Cuff link



Jan. 12, 1960 H. AVEDON 2,920,363

CUFF LINK Filed Dec. 13, I956 INVENTOR. #42 145 y A Vie-pay United States PatenfQ CUFF LINK Harvey Avedon, New York, N.Y. Application December 13, 1956, Serial No. 628,043

3 Claims. 01. 24-97 Thisinvention relates to culf links and, more particularly, to cuff links of the pivoted toggle type that are used to facilitate the assembly and disassembly of the cuff links with the cuffs of shirt sleeves.

One object of thisinvention is to provide a toggle bar cuif link assembly that is simple in construction, attractive in appearance, and which may be manufactured in large quantities at a relatively low cost.

Another object of this invention is to provide a toggle bar cufi link assembly having a minimum number of parts and requiring a minimum number of operations for the assembly thereof.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, I provide a hollow shell having elongated parallel side walls, and a bottom wall. These side walls have central slots extending to the upper edges thereof. As an important feature of the invention, in the formation of these slots, tabs are struck from said side walls, said tabs being hinged to the bottom edges of the respective slots. Said tabs are bent inwardly to lie in a common plane which is perpendicular to the side walls.

In said preferred embodiment, I also provide a yoke having at one end a pair of spaced legs connected by a cross bar. This cross bar is positioned within the slots. A head, which may be ornamental, can be connected to the other end of the yoke. A closure strip made of thin brass or the like overlies the cross bar and closes the open top of the shell, said strip being fixed at its ends to the housing.

The closure strip is inherently somewhat flexible and resilient, and the cross bar is clamped frictionally between the closure strip and the tabs. Preferably, the cross bar is square in cross-section. Hence, by the application-of appropriate force, the yoke may be turned between a position in which it is alined with the shell (for insertion into a cuff) and a position in which it is perpendicular to the shell (to 'hold the cuff link in place in the cuff). The closure strip serves as a yieldable spring to permit this action of the yoke. The tabs serve as bearings and prevent the cross bar from digging into the lower edges of the slots. The complete finding assembly has only three parts, resulting in economy in production, and yet is entirely satisfactory in use.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description, in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is disclosed.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a toggle bar cuff link made in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of the toggle bar operating assembly of the cuif link shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the cuif link shown in Fig. l, in an operative position.

2 Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, showing the cuff link parts in an intermediate position during assembly with a shirt sleeve cuflt' or the like.

The drawing is substantially to scale of a working model of the invention, and reference is made to the drawing to complete the disclosure.

Referring now to Fig. 2 of the drawing, the toggle bar operating assembly of a cuff link made in accordance with the present invention is shown to include a shell 10 having a pair of spaced parallel side walls 11, 12, a pair of oppositely disposed end walls 14, 15 andan arcuate bottom wall 17. Each of the side walls 11, 12, are struck out to provide a pair of inwardly extending tabs 18, 19, and slots 20, 21, respectively, therein.

Said tabs 18 and 19 aresubstantially co-planar and at right angles to the parallel side walls 11 and 12. Preferably, tabs 18 and 19 are rectangular in shape, and slots20 and 21 are correspondingly rectangular in shape. Optionally and preferably, said tabs 18 and 19 together extend most of the distance between walls 11 and 12, with only a slight gap between tabs 18 and 19,; as shown in Fig. 3. l

. Said shell 10 is preferably formed from a unitary blank of metal which is optionally brass and which op-' tionally has a thickness of .015 inch.

The toggle 25 is'in the form of an inverted U-shaped yoke having a base 27 and a pair of parallel legs 28, 29. The base 27 is provided with a pair of outwardly extending lugs 31 that are adapted to be connected with a cuff link button 33 of any desired shape and ornamentation, as more clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4. A cross bar 35, which is optionally of squarecross-section, extends between and is spaced inwardly from'the ends of the legs 28, 29. The spacing between the elements is such that the ends of the legs straddle the shell, and the cross bar is seated within the slots 20, 21 of the shell side walls and upon the inwardly extending tabs 18, '19, respectively.

A flexible closure strip 37, having an inclined flange 38, 39, at each end, overlies the cross bar 35 and extends into engagement with the end walls 14, 15 of the shell. The slots 20, 21, tabs 18, 19, and adjacent portions of the closure strip 37 thus define a trunnion portion in which the cross bar 35 of the yoke is rotatably supported.

Strip 37 is preferably made of metal which is optionally brass and optionally has a thickness of 0.015 inch. The

brass need not be specially heat treated, in view of the very slight bending to which it is subjected.

The assembly of the closure strip 37 to the shell is such that the engagement of the strip with the cross bar places the strip under an initial bending stress. Each of the end walls 14, 15 is provided with an outwardly extending tab 14a, 15a, respectively, be struck into engagement with the the angularly related flanges 38, 39 strip 37, so as to maintain the parts sembled relationship.

Suflicient. clearance is provided between the cross bar 35 and the slot defining portions of the shell side walls to permit the relative rotational movement therebetween. The opening between the legs, the cross bar and base of the yoke is also of suflicient size to permit the, passage of the ends of the shell therethrough during the rotation of the yoke about the aforementioned trunnion support. The action of the flexible closure strip 37 against the edges of the cross bar resiliently and frictionally resists any movement of the shell out of those positions in which the shell is parallel to or perpendicular to the yoke. In any intermediate position, such as that shown in Fig. 5, the strip is under maximum stress and is operative to rethat is arranged to turn the shell to one of the aforementioned positions. The ends 38, 39 of the closure strip are in sliding engagement with the inner surfaces of the tabs 14a, 1501 so as to more readily yield to the rotational movements of the parts. In view of the fact that there are no fixed or integral connections between the respective elements of the assembled link, the number of machine operations and the complexity of assembly are reduced to a minimum, thereby reducing manufacturing costs.

When in proper assembled position with the cuff of a shirt-sleeve, the parts are disposed in the position shown in Fig. l, with the cuff between the button 33 and the shell 10. In order to remove or apply the cuff link to such cuffs, the shell is rotated out of the position shown in Fig. 1, through the position shown in Pig. 5, and into a position in which the shell is alined with the yoke. In this position, the shell may readily pass through the openings in the cuff, after which, the shell may again be rotated to a position in which it is perpendicular to the yoke.

While this invention has been described with particular reference to the specific form shown in the drawing, it is to be understood that such is not to be construed as imparting limitations upon the invention, which is best defined by the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. In a cuff link, a toggle lever operating assembly comprising a unitary, longitudinally extending shell having side walls and an open top, said side walls having rectangular tabs struck inwardly therefrom, each struck tab defining a rectangular slot extending to the top edge of said wall with said tab connecting with the bottom edge of said slot, said tabs being coplanar, a flexible, resilient, longitudinally extending closure strip for the open top of said shell, said strip being secured at its ends to said shell, and a yoke having legs on each side of said shell and a cross bar extending between said legs, said bar being substantially square in cross-section, said bar being positioned between and in turnable and resiliently clamped relationship with said closure strip and said tabs with respective opposite faces of said bar normally resting substantially flush against the upper faces of said tabs and substantially flush against the lower face of said strip.

2. In a cuff link, a toggle lever operating assembly comprising a unitary, longitudinally extending shell having a bottom wall, upstanding side walls, and upstanding end walls, said end walls having end tabs connecting with the upper edges thereof, said end tabs extending towards each other and being upwardly inclined, said side walls having rectangular side tabs struck inwardly therefrom, each struck side tab providing a rectangular slot extending to the top edge of said slot, said side tabs being coplanar, a flexible, resilient, longitudinally extending closure strip for the open top of said shell, the ends of said strip being downwardly inclined and extending under the respective end tabs, and a yoke having legs on each side of said shell and a cross bar extending between said legs, said bar being substantially square in cross-section, said bar being positioned between and in turnable and resiliently clamped relationship with said closure strip andsaid side tabs with respective opposite faces of said bar normally resting flush against the upper faces of said tabs and substantially fiush against the lower face of said strip, said bar maintaining the ends of said strip in frictional and slidable engagement with said end tabs.

3. An assembly according to claim 2, said closure strip being upwardly bowed and being of substantially the same thickness as the shell.

Lewis June 28, 1887 Oldak June 14, 1949 

